Welcome! As the name implies, this is where I share choice words with the one or two of you who stumble across this site. Often, I write about what's going on in my life, both good and bad. I try to share these experiences with enough perspective to keep this from turning into a sad, future-state version of LiveJournal. Frequent topics include work and personal pursuits, recent adventures, ideas, and productivity advice. My posting schedule is sporadic, so accept my apology in advance for long delays between postings. If you prefer pictures instead of words, I'm also on Instagram. Thanks for reading!

There are certain things a man desires above all else. The loving affection of another. The respect of his peers. A life of perfect health. Abundant and lasting wealth. Oh, and one more thing. To hear the sweet siren song of a Ducati twin-cylinder Testastretta motor resonating through dual carbon fiber pipes as you blast along the winding coastal cliffs of Highway 1.

I can’t remember the exact date I added riding Highway 1 to my bucket-o-adventures, but I can tell you, after many years of dreaming, the catalyst for action came down to one simple concept: FOMO. My friend Matt knew riding a motorcycle down Highway 1 had been collecting dust on my goal list for several years. So he did what any good friend would do—he tried to book the trip without me.

A few minutes of “can we actually do this” anxiety later, and the PTO was scheduled, the plane tickets were purchased, and I was on the EagleRider website putting down an $800 deposit on a Ducati Monster 821. Five weeks of agony followed as we counted the minutes until we could trade our corporate gingham and laptop bags for armored jackets and waterproof backpacks. We passed the time by filling in the logistical blanks. We’d pack next to nothing, carry our helmets onto the plane, stay with friends and in Airbnbs along the way, and capture the entire thing with helmet-mounted GoPros.

How a person uses their phone tells you more about them than their shoes, desk, and closet combined. Their line of work, their technology views, their social preferences and their communication style.

This is why I find it important to extend personal values to include my phone and apps.

My Phone and App Philosophy:

In July 2007, I purchased the original iPhone. It represented innovation in a way no other phone did at the time. It felt sleek, intuitive, technologically superior, and cool. It was a tiny slice of the future you could purchase and carry around with you in your pocket. If you wanted a “smartphone” there was no other choice. And that was okay.

But that was then, and this is now. For me, the iPhone has come to represent the status quo. It’s still sleek and intuitive. But it no longer feels new, technologically superior, or cool. In some ways, it has come to represent anti-innovation. It builds on the same formula, each model as predictable as the last.

Which is why, in 2011, I switched to Android. Android, especially at first, was a letdown. The features were comparable and the specs sometimes outshined the iPhone. But it lacked polish. And the PlayStore was full of poorly designed, poorly executed apps, riddled with advertisements.

But that was then, and this is now. As Android usage has increased, so too has the quality of the Android interface and available apps. Much of this aided by Google’s release of material design standards, and the continued improvement of the hardware powering our phones.

Google “best music streaming service” and you’ll get pages of search optimized sites promising to tell you which music streaming service is right for you. But after reading the first four or five, it’s clear most just summarize the top few services in a comparison chart and recommendations are simply the author’s particular flavor of brand loyalty.

But what if you don’t want the list of features? What if you want some context—from someone who actually pays for the service and isn’t just reading the about page for five minutes so they can write a link bait article.

I’d like to be the one to help you out. I’d also like to tell you why I’m well suited to do so.

Why Listen To Me?

Music is broad and “experts” on the topic, abound. Knowing whose opinion you’re getting is important.

Audiophiles can tell you which services have the highest quality streaming and why FLAC files sound better than lossy formats like mp3. Hardcore Audiophiles can explain why AIFF files are better for archiving than WAV despite both being lossless (hint: Cover Art). Techies can list the merits of a particular music player’s tech stack or tell you which service has the best mobile framework. Music aficionados can outline artist by artist who has the best catalogs and why certain sub-genres tend to underrepresent on mainstream music sites.

But with me, you get a bit of everything. My experience in music stretches from Napster and Amie Street to Tydal and Soundcloud. From OiNK and What.CD (RIP) to Apple Music and Spotify. From Lollapalooza and Coachella to SXSWi and Ultra. From my days as a self-proclaimed Myspace music blogger to founding team member at Grooveshark, one of the first, and fastest growing music streaming services on the planet (until it was sued into oblivion).

I’ve used nearly every music service you’ve ever heard of, and many you haven’t, and read enough about music tech/hardware/curation to cover several college degrees and then some. I was Editor-in-Chief of a tech/music blog with 60,000 views a month talking about everything from digital rights management to performing rights organizations. And though it’s doubtful my music hardware stacks up to the average audiophile’s rig, through trial and error, I’ve found the right amount of technology to accomplish what I want—the ability to enjoy the best music possible when, where and how I want.

This weekend I happened upon a few pages I’d written as a college senior—a stormy time in my life to say the least.

What struck me most was how personal and vulnerable the writing felt. I caught myself nodding in agreement as I captured the difficulties of writing, and to a larger extent, life. How tough it was to find sustainable inspiration and to express a particular understanding or observation in a meaningful way.

I often wonder why I feel the need to write. Why do I continue to guilt myself into writing paragraph after paragraph? Why do I struggle to make something from nothing? I don’t have an answer, but I did find a clue in one of the lines I dug up:

I write because I am only half myself, the other half is my expression. For me, someone who lacks the artistic talent of a painter, who lacks the golden voice of a musician, I turn to writing. I write because it’s the only way to express the other half of my thoughts. The only way to share the rest of me.